Motivation Mondays: Honoring SERVICE

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Mahatma Gandhi

Motivation Mondays: Honoring SERVICE

Every man, every woman who has to take up the service of government, must ask themselves two questions: ‘Do I love my people in order to serve them better? Am I humble and do I listen to everybody, to diverse opinions in order to choose the best path?’ If you don’t ask those questions, your governance will not be good. Pope Francis

What does SERVICE mean to you? A great teacher once said that “To lead, you must first learn to serve.” Today, as we honor our service men and women who paid the ultimate price in defending our rights and freedoms, let us not forget that true service is selfless service; it is service that demands we set aside our personal wants/needs/desires and just serve our fellow-man. Those men and women who served in a wide range of duties and capacities gave their all including their lives so the rest of us can live and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

When I think of this special day, my gratitude goes out to all who have served others globally and in every line of work. I think of our teachers, our caregivers, our good leaders, our military personnel, our firemen/policemen, our doctors/nurses/first responders, our servers/helpers in every imaginable field, and I say THANK YOU! Some have served without recognition or glory, while others have served with bravery and public acknowledgement. The truth is that they have all served mightily because they put service above selfishness.

“To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.” Douglas Adams

Motivation Mondays: Honoring SERVICE

Memorial Day isn’t just about honoring veterans, its honoring those who lost their lives. Veterans had the fortune of coming home. For us, that’s a reminder of when we come home we still have a responsibility to serve. It’s a continuation of service that honors our country and those who fell defending it. Pete Hegseth

Each Memorial Day, I pause and reflect on what type of character trait it takes to be so fully committed to lifting others up. What type of individual gives of him/herself without thought of the dangers or loss involved or the SEO advantages to be gained? What comes back to my heart again and again is that we are all capable of making that CHOICE to serve. We don’t have to all join the forces or work in government, we can serve in our communities and on our jobs. We can serve our families, friends, and neighbors, We can be of service to the needy, the homeless, the hungry and the occasional stranger whose gaze meets ours on the bus, train or street.

Why Serve? We can make a concerted effort to make service to humanity part of our 5-10 year personal plan/goal, and do it in a way that is feasible for us. What good is a career plan that has no giving-back section to it? What good is making millions/billions if we don’t stop to look at how we can help the less fortunate around us? Service is our raison d’être and we might as well maximize our exposure to it while we still have breath on this earth.

“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” Rabindranath Tagore

Motivation Mondays: Honoring SERVICE

Without community service, we would not have a strong quality of life. It’s important to the person who serves as well as the recipient. It’s the way in which we ourselves grow and develop. Dorothy Height

If we would start each day by asking ourselves how we can be of service to each other, we would probably have less strife in the world. We live in an abundant universe with enough to go around and yet many die from hunger, lack of medical attention and even from ignorance. While ignorance might not kill the body, it is a far more insidious murderer than we know. Ignorance of the universal principle of treating others with dignity and respect; Ignorance of the rights of others to their religious, cultural, social beliefs; Ignorance of the laws of attraction and the abundance of resources on Planet Earth; Ignorance of our impact on the environment, Ignorance of our commonalities, Ignorance that leads to the disenfranchisement of people, ethnic groups, communities and excluded/abused folks …

All forms of ignorance and many others, not mentioned above, fuel the poison that keeps us from serving each other. If we remember that service to others is a form of service to our progeny and ourselves, we will begin to see the beauty and power of service in its richest form. We need to become more conscious and conscientious of the power of service and add it to our daily routine. What and How do you serve?

The details for Motivation Mondays are below. Join in! The themes for May and June are:05/04 – APPRECIATION05/11 – HAPPINESS05/18 – FITNESS05/25 – SERVICE

“For anything worth having one must pay the price; and the price is always work, patience, love, self-sacrifice – no paper currency, no promises to pay, but the gold of real service.” John Burroughs

Motivation Mondays: Honoring SERVICE

Motivation Mondays: Honoring SERVICE

For those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, we are grateful that such men and women were among us. For those who continue to serve, we honor their commitment. For those who return to civilian life, we honor their service. Steve Buyer

As Muhammad Ali once said, “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” The internet has made our global village smaller and accessible. We can interact with people thousands of miles away and that access means that we need to let go of our prejudices and fault-finding. We need to recognize the humanity that exists inside each and every one of us and use that as a starting point of engagement. Until we open our eyes and begin to honor the living, we will never fully appreciate the sacrifices of the dead. Until we lift the veil of ignorance that shrouds our minds, and see each other as we truly our: brothers and sisters, we will remain a world in conflict with itself. Until we learn to serve without discriminatory practices, the dead will continue to turn in their graves wondering why we have not learned the lessons that should have become clear with their death. So who and what do YOU serve? What are your thoughts? Do share! Thank you.

Positive Motivation Tip: Serve because you must and because it matters to your survival too.

Motivation Mondays is open to anyone who wishes to share a motivational quote, photo, personal challenge or a post that encourages others to start the week on an upbeat note.Basic Instructions: Each week, I will have a motivation word to help us create a response. (See listed words for end of November and all of December below)Email address: You may email or share your post as a comment and I will add it to the round-up of related posts. email it to: contact(@)mirthandmotivation(.)comCategory tag: – Share your post using Motivation MondaysTwitter hashtag: – Use this on Twitter #MotvnMDedicated Page: There is a dedicated page for Motivation Mondays. It has the same instructions and will include other helpful tools and a link to the round-upFacebook Page:MotivationOnMondays Join our page and add your post and/or any motivational piece you think will be helpful to others.Facebook Community: We have a Facebook community forum to compliment the page. It serves as another way to share uplifting posts and thoughts. Please join in and add your voice.

Badge: – I created a fun badge using PicMonkey’s free photo editing tools. You can create your own, use WordPress’ integrated tool on your blog or you are welcome to use mine. (see dedicated page)Tag: – Motivation MondaysHashtag: – #MotvnM

Living in a military town has given me a much greater appreciation of not only the sacrifice that soldiers give, but that their families give as well. I have several friends that gave birth while their husbands were overseas and have had to be both father and mother to their children while dad or mom is posted away. It’s a huge part of life here and I’m so grateful for all that they do to protect us!

Thank you Megan! I agree that we do forget that the sacrifice extends to their loved ones too… It is such a great path to take and I remain humbled, grateful and in awe of those who re called to the forces including our firemen/police/first responders and more…

I love the quote from Mahatma Ghandi. I’ve heard many great quotes from him over the years, but I can’t say that I’ve ever heard this one before! Thank you so much for sharing this post, it certainly provides food for thought.

Service can be so easily forgotten if it is efficiently given. Things just flow so well for us, we do not realize there are a multitude of unsung heroes who do their jobs so that we can live our lives comfortably. We should always remember these people. – Fred

Service is something that a lot of people these days take for granted. I see it happen everyday & in the workplace, it can demotivate people, especially those who do all the hard work. A little appreciation usually goes a long way. It is nice to know that you are appreciated and that you are valued.

I didn’t understood service until the recent incident in our country involving the death of 44 policemen in a battlefield ambush. Their death showed us Filipinos what service means for both police and army. They showed us how committed they are in making sure we, citizens of this country, is safe from all forms of harm. It’s selfless and brave.

Through that understanding, I was inspired to push through the community works I’ve been wanting to join or initiate. Service, for me, is a very valuable thing to share or give. It takes a lot of effort, time and patience. But it is after the service that is satisfying. It always feels good to give back to the world.

I agree that service means being selfless & it is not easy-to-do but I’d say it’s something noble. And those who do service and at the same time remain honest & straight ( not corrupt ), for me, are modern heroes.

Service for me means doing something without expecting anything in return. But at the same time,we should definitely do our bit to recognize the heroes who have done something extraordinary with their lives.

I so appreciate all that our armed forces do to keep us safe! We see soldiers often where we live. They’re our neighbours and our friends. We’ve seen families torn apart, sacrificing mom or dad for the good of our country. That is a HUGE sacrifice to make. And by the same token, we’re reminded of all those who have gone before, and we’re so grateful to them for it.

Freedom isn’t free, and some of us may live here and take advantage of this gift we have their whole lives, I hope I can teach my kids the sacrafices that people have made for them to live in a country such as this. We HAVE to teach this to the next generation.

You bring up such a good point that we can all participate in our country’s service, whether on the front lines or in our own communities. I love the pictures you chose to highlight in this post as well.

Serving always reminds me of Jesus, how He came to serve. He should be our greatest role model when it comes to serving. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the army, the government, a law firm, the hospital or even at home, all of us are doing some sort of service for other people. True service should always be honored. 🙂

I remember those who serve the country to make a world liveable. My tears are falling as I read this post. I can’t help but remember specially those who have fallen for the sake of peace and order. While we are having parties and events and moments of our lives, some people are betting their life, putting their feet on the grave to give us the peace we are enjoying! My snappiest salute to all of you dear soldiers!

This is such a beautiful post. It’s sad how there are many, many heroes who go unnamed, unnoticed, and taken for granted… As people who enjoy the freedom and peace they’ve brought through service, it’s just as important to take a moment and give respect to these heroes.

And while the military is not for everyone, I believe we should also do our part in building a better community. Even smallest things can amount to something bigger in the long run. 🙂

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Mahatma Gandhi

Indeed! Mahatma Gandhi nailed it. To be of service to ones fellowmen is so noble. It makes me wonder why nowadays many of us takes service for granted. I guess, once you’re a direct recipient to such then you’ll appreciate it more.

This is really a great article to read and share, remembering those loved one and people who fought to give us freedom and peace is a great way to celebrate this day with them, even though they are no longer existing.

To be a teacher is something that I could be proud of in the future. Not only I’ve helped other people, I’ve helped those who are ignorant to be educated and be the future educators. It’s just a rewarding job especially to those students that you’ve helped and reach their dreams.

It’ll never be possible without an education from a teacher. They’re the ones who have molded their students into successful ones and they would always look back to that teacher who have helped them shape their future. I’ll say, serving the students through teaching is one heck of a job that I’ll love through the years. 🙂

My parents and my grandfather were in the Army. I had joined the Army Reserves because of how proud my grandfather was when he was telling his army stories. He was at Normandy. It feels so good to do something you know is for the better good. Thanks for sharing.

Being a school officer (like in Student Council) is already a hard ‘service’, what more with those who serve our country. They are so ready to die for us! I have a few friends whose husbands/sons joined the military and they worry everyday. I can’t imagine a loved one being gone for war or non-war! 🙁 Kudos to them!

Being a public teacher and my fiance as a gov’t policeman, service has been always a part of our lives. Like my fiance having no day-offs from work (LITERALLY) just to serve the nation. Those little act of service is really a BIG impact to the community.

I am reminded of a quote in “The Catcher in the Rye” – ‘The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.’